Your Evening Sift

Get comfortable because you folks were busy today. Here's your very voluminous and information packed, night-before-Friday evening Sift..

A- Blast Off! notes that yet another Florida Republican is caught up in a scandal.

Yet another corrupt Republican in Florida government?! Say it ain't so!

Well, it is so ... at least according to an ethics complaint filed yesterday against Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, who (allegedly) has been ringing up quite the tab for trips between Tallahassee and his Fort Myers home.

B- The South Beach Bum shows us that they're stocked up and ready to go for the Winter Party 2009.

C- Jaded in Paradise's popular Facebook page has her wondering if men are "boomerangs?"

Are ex-boyfriends merely boomerangs? You hurl them away and one day they come back? I’m beginning to see the pattern since every dude I’ve danced the dance with has gotten in touch with me one way or another.

D- I Shot The Chef feeds the blog with Zalettini cookies.

They are not overly sweet, but have a fantastic clean buttery flavor and a lovely crunch. Perfect paired with a cup of coffee. I used dried cranberries instead of the raisins called for in the recipe. Great choice, not just for flavor, but gorgeous red color.

E- South Florida Theatre Scene has their regular wrap-up for the week.

F- Random Pixels talked to Channel 10's Michael Putney today about his column in the Herald.

Putney told me by phone today that he decided to write the column after interviewing the governor last week. "It dawned on me that even though I've known Crist for 20 years, I really don't know him," said Putney.

G- It's a foreclosure bonanza in Miami-Dade County, according to Eye on Miami.

Total foreclosure filings for 2008 were 56,656. That is more than double the 2007 rate of 26,691. In one month, January 2009, the rate was almost double that of January 2008's total of 3,544.

H- South Florida Lawyers links to an interesting Village Voice profile of attorney Alberto Mora, a Miami Cuban-American, now living in the DC suburbs, and a Republican who voted for Obama because he found Bush's inattention to human rights laws "offensive."

I- Artlurker has the story of one Miami resident who is getting hassled for the art that he has laying around his yard.

Clifton Childree is an artist whose work always seems to be at odds with the law. We all remember last summer when police officers burst in and shot a mannequin at Childree’s “Dream-Cum-Tru” installation at Locust Projects. Now it seems the City of Miami Code Enforcement Department is ordering Clifton to tear down an art installation in his own backyard.

J- If you rent an apartment or condo in South Beach, it may well be that you'll get some new friends out of the deal, according to this fun post by Miami City Diggs.

People Ô inventor and Brickell Condo Owner, Joe Schmo said, “ In my own condo, I am currently testing out People Ô on the balcony. I figure you can have them when you want them and close the sliding glass door when you don’t. My only concern is during hurricane season, I am not sure where to put them?”

K- Coconut Grove Grapevine has a cool post up about a little house in the Grove called The Weathered Edge.

Right next to the cemetery on Charles is The Weathered Edge, a small cottage that is at this point totally dilapidated. At one time it was an artist's house at 3036 Allamanda, off of Shipping. About 10 years ago, it was moved to this location next to the cemetery in Village West at Douglas and Charles. It has been sitting and rotting since.

L- Generation Miami goes after the Diaz-Balarts and says they are now "irrelevant."

There is no clearer example of the Diaz-Balarts’ impotence than their inability to influence yesterday’s 245-178 House vote in favor of a huge budget bill which included, among other things, a provision that disables the US government from enforcing the travel ban to Cuba – this is their one-hit wonder issue that really never was a hit. You may remember that Lincoln Diaz-Balart spent days pompously claiming to the South Florida media he had the power and votes in Congress to shoot the measure down. But when it came time to vote, both Lincoln and Mario’s political erectile dysfunction kicked in and left them unable to do anything. As noted before, the bill passed with a wide margin.

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